"You know, this is weird," Simba said, panting as the intense heat engulfed his body. "Out of all the ways we could die, I never for a second thought it would end up like this."

Nala scowled. "You're telling me."

"This is humiliating," Haiba sighed.

The three cubs had been secured together by vines, and were dangling from their legs as they were slowly lowered into the top of a bubbling volcano. Stood at the edge were a few lionesses that were in control of the vines.

"This serves you right," snarled one of them.

"Yeah," said another. "You posers."

Simba rolled his eyes. "How many times am I gonna hear that word this week? I don't get it. What did we even do?"

"I believe I may be able to shed some light on this," Haiba said, frowning. "Well, you see, I did once pose as a master criminal called Don Haiba and—"

"Oh, please don't remind me about that," Nala moaned, having experienced his 'Don Haiba' persona herself. It wasn't pleasant. "It was horrible."

"As I was saying," Haiba said, "I believe that these lionesses were the ones who took me in at Jowai Resort, believing me to be the real Don Haiba."

"Who's Don Haiba?" Simba asked.

"It's a long story," Nala said. "And from the looks of things, we only have about forty-seven seconds to live, so I don't enough time."

"To cut a long story short: they know I'm a liar now," Haiba said. "I knew we shouldn't have wandered into their territory."

"So their idea of punishment is to dip us into a flaming volcano?" Nala asked. "That's… disturbing. I think we should skip over this story when we tell it to our cubs."

"If we live through this," Simba retorted. "And from the looks of things, I'd say that death is pretty much imminent."

"That's a big word for you," Nala teased.

"This isn't really the time, Nala," Simba admonished her. "We only have, like, seventeen seconds left."

"I have an idea!" Haiba proclaimed, a grin on his face.

"Really?" Simba and Nala asked excitedly.

"Yeah," Haiba said. His face then fell. "But I just forgot it."

Simba and Nala groaned.

The lionesses continued to lower them towards the fiery death that was the top of the volcano. The smoke from the searing lava inside was more than enough to make them feel that they had been set alight already.

"I've just decided," Simba said. "I hate volcanos."

"Well, this is it," Nala said. "We're going to die. I guess all I can say is: Simba, I love you. And Haiba?"

"Yes, Nala?" Haiba asked, hoping to hear those three little words from Nala.

"I hate you."

"Ah." Haiba smiled. "Not the three words I was hoping for, then."

As the lava was mere inches from disintegrating them into nothingness, the three cubs suddenly discovered that their descent had stopped.

"Huh?" Simba's eyes snapped open, and he looked upwards—even though it made him rather dizzy to do so—to find the lionesses glaring daggers down at him.

"Any last words before your execution, posers?" asked one of the lionesses.

"Yes! Yes!" Haiba cried in desperation. "You've got it all wrong! I'm the real Don Haiba! Whichever one you've seen is just another copycat! He's the poser! Not me!"

"I find that hard to believe," a lioness said.

"No, it's true!" Haiba insisted. "You have to believe us! I'm Don Haiba, and these are my closest friends! Don, um… Abmis and Don Alan."

"Don Alan?" Nala exclaimed in outrage. "Don Alan?"

"Just go with it," Haiba hissed. "Please! You have to listen to us! Or else the Great King of the Past will be very unhappy

to hear that you've killed one of their best friends."

The lionesses exchanged confused glances with one another. "You know the Great King of the Past?"

"Oh, yes," Haiba said, nodding. "Don't we, guys?"

Simba and Nala nodded insistently. "Oh, yeah. Great guys," Simba mumbled.

"Yeah. They're really… dead," Nala complimented.

"But your voice is different," one of the lionesses pointed out, staring at Haiba with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Um…" Haiba cleared his throat. "Yo! Let us outta here! Yo!"

"'Yo'?" said Simba, narrowing his eyes.

"This is so embarrassing," Nala said, grimacing.

The lioness nodded at her friends. "Oh, yes. He's the real Don Haiba, all right. I think we'd better let them go."

"Yes, I suppose so," another agreed. "Raise them up."

Simba, Nala and Haiba let out deep sighs as they began to rise up and away from the searing volcano.

"Now that," Simba said, "was a close one."

Meanwhile, far away from the quaint area of Jowai Resort, King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi observed their kingdom from the tip of Pride Rock.

Silently, they turned to look at each other.

Their eyes turned a sickly jet black.

"It is time," they both spoke in perfect unison.

Simba, Nala and Haiba all hugged each other tightly once they were a safe distance away from the volcano.

"Oh, I don't think I've ever been so scared in my life!" Haiba exclaimed. "It's the perfect time for a group hug—especially considering I have active crushes on both of you right now."

"That's enough hugging," Simba declared upon hearing that, taking several steps away from Haiba.

"Come on, Simba," Haiba chuckled. "Live a little. I don't bite."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Simba replied. "Anyway, we'd better get back to the Pride Lands—before my parents start worrying about me."

"Uh, Simba?" Nala piped up. "Didn't you forget? They, uh…?"

Simba's shoulders sagged, and his stomach fell. "Oh, yeah," he said, feeling a sudden bout of depression. "I forgot…"

Of course. Simba's parents were completely unresponsive to him—or anyone else, for that matter—now. They just seemed to stare straight ahead whenever he saw them. They only ever moved when they wanted to give each other these incredibly unsettling stares. There was something wrong with them, and it was getting worse with each passing day. Actually, scratch that—each passing minute.

At first, it was probably something of a blessing. Simba's parents always used to get on his nerves. They never wanted him to do anything that might be 'rowdy' or 'unsafe'. Even hanging around with Nala seemed to be a cause for a concern when they first became friends.

However, they did eventually warm to his adventurous nature, and simply had to admit that he was never ever going to change. Or they were certainly coming to understanding it. Either way, Simba didn't really mind.

But then they just became so uncaring. Not about him, not about the kingdom; nothing. They only ever seemed to care about themselves—and Simba just didn't know why. It wasn't like they were being controlled or something. If it was that, then it was mind control on a level that he'd never ever seen before. Honestly, it terrified him. He'd never really thought about it before, but one of his biggest fears would be to lose his parents.

But he would never tell anyone that.

"Anyway…" Simba turned round, a chirpy smile on his face. "We'd better get back."

"Uh, Simba?" Nala called. "You sure you're all right?"

"Yeah," he replied, a little quicker than he would have. "Why wouldn't I be? Come on. Let's go!"

He hurried off. Nala and Haiba exchanged a puzzled glance with each other before following. "Why are you in such a hurry, anyway?" Haiba asked.

"I'm not," Simba insisted. "It's just… well, we don't have anything else to do, do we?"

"We could have stayed at the resort," Haiba suggested. "I'm sure the lionesses would have been more than happy to accommodate us. After all, I am their best customer."

"No—they think you're their best customer," Nala retorted. "Why couldn't you just pay for membership yourself? You are a prince, aren't you?"

"My assets have been frozen," Haiba replied. "Until I come of age, at least."

"How do you even pay them?" Simba questioned.

"With food," Haiba said. "Although it usually ends up with them serving it to you, anyway. It's a very poor way to run a business—even if it is the best luxury wildebeest can buy."

"Well, we're not going there anymore," Nala decided. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to get dumped into any more volcanoes."

Haiba smiled bashfully. "Not even just a small one—?"

"No!"